Scotland: Mystery of a masterpiece going cheap

Seton House, an example of Adam at his best, is too good to be true and the asking price hard to believe, writes Lynn Cochrane

It is one of the finest buildings by one of Scotland's greatest architects. It is absurdly convenient for Edinburgh but properly in the country and close to the sea. Yet the sale of Seton House throws up pressing questions.

Why so cheap? The £750,000 asking price is almost half that expected for drab, modern, executive homes nearby. Why hasn't its owner ever lived in it? And why has it been put on the market now, more than 200 years since it last changed hands but scarcely a blink since the owner netted £10m from selling a painting?

The sale has been ordered by the Earl of Wemyss, head of one of Scotland's oldest and wealthiest dynasties. Seton, a magnificent castle in East Lothian, was bought by his family in 1798, so why give it up now? A first glimpse of the property, one mile from Longniddry, sheds no light.